Zimbabwe police raids opposition offices

DPA Harare, April 25 (DPA) Zimbabwean armed police Friday raided the headquarters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in Harare, seizing computers and detaining people who had sought refuge there from post-election violence, a party official said. Speaking to South African radio MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said 500 police officers took part in the raid on the party’s Harvest House headquarters and that he escaped by jumping out of a window.

A DPA correspondent at the scene put the number of police taking part in the raid at around 50.

Chamisa said around 500 people were in the building at the time, including many people displaced from rural areas by post-election violence.

“These people have all been bundled up and taken away by the police,” he said.

The police had also taken away computers and other material, he said.

Tensions have been running high in Zimbabwe since March 29 elections, in which MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai claimed victory over longtime leader President Robert Mugabe.

Scores of people have been attacked by Mugabe party supporters in rural areas, allegedly for “voting wrongly.” DPA